Provider steps in to run Bridgewater
A large Victorian provider has entered an agreement with the government to run the facility after it went into administration.
Uniting Aged Care will run the Bridgewater Aged Care facility on a temporary basis after entering an agreement with the Commonwealth Government.
The Melbourne home collapsed in May and has been in the hands of government-appointed administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers ever since.
Uniting Aged Care is one of Australia’s largest not-for-profit organisations, with sites located throughout metropolitan Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo and Northern and Southern Tasmania.
In a statement, the Minister for Ageing said meetings have been held with residents, relatives and staffs to inform them of the changes.
“Uniting Aged Care…will be responsible for ensuring that residents of Bridgewater continue to receive the high standard of care they deserve,” she said.
“The engagement of Uniting Aged Care will also benefit the employees of Bridgewater who will be able to continue to deliver quality aged care, confident that their salary, wages and other employee entitlements will continue to be met.”
Uniting Aged Care’s assistance to the facility follows the appointment of a of a clinical nurse adviser team to assist the administrators to maintain quality of care in late May.
The administrators will continue to investigate the financial affairs of the former approved provider – Vitality Care – while seeking a buyer for the facility.
“We are getting the specialists in to do specialist things which leaves us to do what we specialise in, which is selling the business and getting in a new operator,” said administrator, Stephen Longley.
“It’s a temporary measure and it may just be for six or eight weeks if a sale is achieved.”
A meeting of creditors will be held no later than 5 September.
